Despite our generation’s openness to sexual exploration and identity, bisexuality remains a topic of debate. Many are skeptical of those who claim it as their sexual orientation and it has yet to be integrated into popular culture.
Few in the media have described the movie Brokeback Mountain, for example, as a bisexual love story. Now that Ang Lee’s notorious flick is en route to the Oscars, the bisexual debate is brewing. The movie introduces us to two cowboys who, through working together on the beautiful Brokeback Mountain, develop a passionate relationship. Without giving away too much, I will say that both men marry women yet continue to love each other. The lingering question is, are these men gay and yielding to society’s constraints, or are they bisexual? Many believe that bisexuals inevitably end up gay; the bisexuality acts as a “beard,” or is just a stop along the way. Others believe sexuality to be less black and white.
Alfred C. Kinsey, founder of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, developed a scale of sexual orientation that is widely accepted today. This “Kinsey Continuum” ranks individuals from zero to six; zero being absolutely heterosexual and six being absolutely homosexual. For example, a two would describe someone who is predominantly heterosexual but has a slight attraction to those of the same sex.
Sex experts, such as university of Maryland human sexuality professor Robin Sawyer, find the spectrum to be an accurate depiction of sexuality. Still, pop culture has yet to agree that bisexuality is a legitimate orientation. On July 5, The New York Times published an article that angered the bisexual community. “Straight, Gay or Lying? Bisexuality Revisited” discussed a study done by Northwestern University psychology professor J. Michael Bailey. Bailey used a control group of men of mixed sexual orientations. He measured their sexual arousal by showing them both female-female and male-male pornography. “Bailey found that gay men only responded to same sex erotica, heterosexual men only responded to opposite gender erotica, but women responded to both opposite and same gender stimulae,” said Sawyer.
Men who defined themselves as bisexual had physical responses that identified them only as either gay or straight. Bailey’s findings imply that men cannot be bisexual, but he seemed to ignore the possibility of outside variables. “Do men not respond to same-gender erotica because they’ve been socially conditioned to be homophobic or because they’re genetically programmed to be that way? Or a combination of both? No one really knows,” Sawyer said.
Another concern is Bailey’s sole focus on sexual response. According to an article published on the Bisexual Resource Center’s website, Bailey’s use of sexual imagery only and the assumption that arousal determines sexual identity exemplify the flaws in his study. Elizabeth Well-Greenberg’s July 15 article in the Washington Blade pointed out examples of Bailey’s twisted logic. “But can [Bailey’s] methodology measure sexual arousal and does that arousal determine sexual orientation? According to the researchers contracted by the Blade who reviewed the study and are experts in the sexuality field, the answer is no,” Well-Greenberg writes.
Another finding in Bailey’s study was the tendency for women in the control group to be aroused by male-male and female-female pornography. “Does that make women in general potentially bisexual? An intriguing question,” Sawyer said.
Is bisexuality a false safe haven for those unable to accept their heterosexuality or homosexuality? Or has sexuality defied the box and become a more organic, free-flowing characteristic? With no absolute conclusions in sight, bisexuality’s legitimacy is suspended in cultural limbo.
The ultimate question then becomes, does it really matter how we define others sexually? It is far easier to label someone than to accept them. And it is the common road of man to stay within the boundaries of the majority. What is hardest is discovering ourselves – building our own identities. To come out and to define oneself amid adversity is the ultimate act of bravery and self-acceptance. “To thine own self be true” and screw what everyone else thinks.
Marisa Picker is a senior journalism major. She can be reached at dapick101@aol.com.
